By: Noreen O’Leary, Adweek

A mere decade ago, Tara Poto was working in advertising at Calvin Klein when she got the opportunity to become a leader on UM’s Johnson & Johnson business. Though she fretted at the time that leaving the high-profile fashion world could stunt her career, Poto has no regrets. In fact, it turned out to be the best decision she ever made.

Shortly after joining UM, Poto was asked to set up a new division, J3, working exclusively on Johnson & Johnson brands. There, she was responsible for cross-platform media efforts such as “1-Day Starts Today” for J&J’s Acuvue, in which teens were asked to post online videos describing their dream day for a chance to be mentored by the likes of Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas.

Now in its third year, the campaign is expected to go into a fourth round. “A lot of clients think of content as one-offs,” says Poto. “But we’re trying to move all of our clients to invest in content with embedded storytelling within media and marketing plans.”

Under her watch, J3 was the most awarded agency at J&J’s annual James E. Burke Marketing Awards, which recognizes the most innovative marketing plans in the company.

Last year, Poto was named to head UM’s custom content division where she is responsible for most of the agency’s clients, among them J&J, Chrysler and Sony.

One of her most recent efforts was creating customized integration of Sony products and music into each episode of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. The partnership features Sony Music artists performing in Kimmel’s back lot while audience members shoot the performance using Sony products, then post their footage on Kimmel’s YouTube channel.